Peio Sánchez: "I am a firefighter in the midst of a tsunami of poverty"

BarcelonaPeio Sánchez (San Sebastián, 1959) is the parish priest of the Santa Anna parish in Barcelona, a church next to Plaza Catalunya and La Rambla that since 2017 has offered food, drinks, medical care, and opportunities to the last arrivals in the city: those without jobs, shelter, or papers. Last year, they treated 3,800 people, following the concept of a field hospital preached by Pope Francis: caring for the wounded, regardless of who they are or where they come from. Half Catalan and half Basque, Peio Sánchez is a cultured and committed priest, an example, in the midst of Holy Week, of what the Church is also about.

We are in the parish of Santa Anna, in the center of Barcelona. Here, they dedicate themselves to welcoming the least of society. Who are these least of all?

— At the bottom step, right now, there are mostly immigrants. Previously, immigrants always had a reception network. The other day we had a projection of The 47, with Marcel Barrena, its director. That poverty that arrived isn't the poverty of today. It's not that they don't have jobs, it's that they don't have papers or future prospects, and so they have to sleep on the streets. Today's poverty is much more impressive, much more extreme. It affects a very young population. One-third of our people come from North Africa, especially Morocco and Algeria; another third from sub-Saharan Africa; and a third from Latin America. We have practically no local population.

How many people have passed through this church this past year?

— Some 3,800 different people. They didn't just spend a moment, they maintained a connection with us. The soup kitchen, medical care, mental health support...

In recent weeks, he has reported that there are residents who would like Santa Anna to stop serving all these people.

— Yes. Ours is a concern shared by other social services in the city. We're facing much stronger social pressure from residents than two or three years ago. Right now, we're not exactly at a peak of insecurity. So what's happening? What's happening is a growing aporophobia, racism, and the transmission of an ideology from the far right, but also from Donald Trump and all these people who promote a dynamic of exclusion and believe that foreigners and anyone different is the enemy. This affects the neighbors next door, and what was once a welcoming attitude and understanding of people's situations turns into suspicion and rejection.

And how have you noticed this racism among your neighbors in the center of Barcelona lately?

— There's no direct confrontation. They've launched a petition to have the field hospital closed, with the idea that if it's a Romanesque-Gothic church, then let it have tourists, because in the end, the businesses next door will make money if the Church acts as Disneyland.

We already have the Sagrada Família, to make it into Disneyland.

— What we do need is for the Church to be, above all, a place of welcome. Sometimes someone comes to Santa Ana and says, "With this beauty, isn't it a shame that the homeless come here?" And we have the experience that this beauty was created precisely to restore people's dignity. A hotel whose name I don't want to remember wanted the Santa Anna cloister to be its dining room. We have turned the cloister into a soup kitchen.

You've spoken before about aporophobia, the rejection of the poor.

— It's a very prevalent discourse within far-right populism. It's a prejudice against the other and against what's different. They're homeless, jobless, undocumented, and on top of that, they have to carry the label of being dangerous. We meet young people every day who have many opportunities. Africans have a tremendous facility with languages. They speak four or five and are sleeping on the streets.

Will the field hospital close?

— Oh, no. We'd like to close so no one would be left on the streets. But if we have someone on the streets, we'll be open. And unfortunately, we're witnessing a growing gap in inequality, and we have fewer and fewer opportunities for many newcomers. Young people we've supported, who are on the verge of obtaining papers, who are on the verge of getting a job, yet won't find a roof over their heads, because today this city is inhospitable: it's impossible to live in Barcelona.

So as long as there's someone sleeping on the street, that church won't turn into Disneyland.

— No, that will not be the case.

Is Pope Francis ultimately responsible for Santa Anna becoming a field hospital?

— It wasn't something planned or thought out, but a severe cold wave hit in 2017, and Arrels and other organizations told us they had a lot of people sleeping on the streets. What we did was open the door. The metaphor of the field hospital is Pope Francis's. Just after being elected, he gave his first interview and said he thinks of the Church as a field hospital where the wounded arrive, no matter who they are. Perhaps we can't provide much treatment here, but at least we'll welcome them so they don't end up with nothing. This is the Pope's intuition, which we have followed.

They say there are many people within the Vatican who are not in line with Pope Francis, and perhaps when they see him in poor health...

— They're happy. He says, "Pray for me, but pray for me," meaning not to pray for his death. That's the Argentine sense of humor. This polarization that exists in the social and political world is also present within the Church. It's true that we have fundamentalist groups that are bothered by this papacy.

Do you fear that Pope Francis will be followed by a kind of Donald Trump of the Catholic Church?

— No, not that. It would be a bit of a prophecy. It's normal for the style to be different, but continuity will be guaranteed. I think this Pope has not only made gestures, but has set in motion processes, and that will not be reversed.

For you, what is the ultimate meaning of being a priest?

— To place a table of shared brotherhood in the midst of the world. Let those who are different also have a place. Here, believers and non-believers coexist, we coexist with Muslims. A few days ago, we said a prayer for one of the Muslim children who lost his mother. In this time of conflict and war, to place a sign of brotherhood in the name of God. This is what it means to be a priest.

It's a question I never ask: When was the last time you had sex?

— Ooooh, many years, many years. There's a renunciation of sexual ties, but that doesn't mean I haven't made love many times. This implies an openness to everyone.

What do you mean by making love?

— Grasping and supporting the other, caring for them. If you're stuck in a permanent relationship, it's much more difficult when someone from outside comes knocking on the door and says, "I'm here." It's not a masochistic renunciation, but rather implies availability.

So, do you understand celibacy? Or would you like the Catholic Church to change it?

— I understand that there are people who want to live this way, but there are many others who don't, obviously. I believe we can have married priests and celibate priests, that's clear. And also female priests.

What will we see first: married priests or female priests?

— For the second time, you've invited me to make prophecies. Unfortunately, I think it will be easier with married priests. And I say unfortunately. It's not easy to transform institutions with a very long history. It's not easy to find agreement among believers; not everyone sees it the same way. Even many women oppose the ordination of women.

Why did you want to be a priest?

— The attraction of Jesus's lifestyle, his way of living and sharing, captivated me. Vocation is closely linked to a mission to set something in motion. With my limited strength, we can unite many forces to make impossible things possible.

When this interview comes out, it will be Easter Sunday. Holy Week in recent years has nothing to do with the Holy Week you had when you were a child. Which do you like best?

— I remember an anecdote that isn't strictly related to Holy Week, but it's very indicative of what you're asking me. One day we were holding the Corpus Christi procession in the center of Barcelona, and everything was decorated. I said to the person leading the procession, "How wonderful, the whole city is decorated!" And he replied, "It's because Barça won the Champions League." Now, if the city is decorated, it's because tourists are arriving, because we have holidays... There's a cultural, historical, and religious change that also affects Holy Week.

An image from this past Sunday: during the palm blessing outside the Sagrada Família, there were more people with cell phones than with palm trees or palm branches.

— Yes, it's a very significant image. The fact that we believers are not part of the prevailing culture also provides an opportunity for greater truthfulness, because we no longer act from social power, but from conviction. I have no nostalgia for the past.

Of the last moments of Jesus Christ's life, from his arrival in Jerusalem until his death and resurrection, which is the one that most attracts you or the one in which you find something useful?

— All my life, I've accompanied people in great suffering. Just yesterday, one of the young people was so desperate he wanted to take his own life. I'll stay with the resurrection, with the sign of hope, with what makes the impossible possible. On Holy Saturday night, we hold a special liturgy to celebrate the resurrection, the hope. How can I wake up and get up every day to continue being a firefighter? That's what I am: a firefighter in the midst of a fire that overwhelms me, a tsunami of poverty and hardship.

How have you experienced these past two months without Viqui Molins, another of the lifeblood of this field hospital?

— Missing her. I keep saying I've barely been able to mourn her, because here every day you have to mourn for others. And when will I ever mourn my friend? Viqui had an unwavering joy. And I think this is an important legacy.

As an expert in spiritual cinema, recommend a film for me this Holy Week.

— I think that Ben-Hur, The 10 Commandments, The sacred tunic, the ones they show these days, are bad movies. They should be read from their time, but cinematically they were peplums. I like Terrence Malick, and now he's waiting for a film of his about Jesus to come out. He studied theology, interestingly, and Martin Scorsese also studied it because he was a seminarian. I also like Wim Wenders. His latest film, Perfect daysHe's a marvel. A guy who cleans toilets and maintains hope in the smallest things.

So during Holy Week, instead of Ben-Hur, Perfect days.

— Perfect days, by far.

The last words are yours.

— At this moment, we need to overcome indifference and maintain our willingness to welcome. Catalonia has a long history of social dynamics.